I WANT to Fill your Prescription

I want to fill your prescription. 

I do. 

But you have to meet me on a few things to make it happen:

- I need a prescription. "The doctor just called it in" is meaningless if he/she hasn't done that yet. I can't make it "appear" here.

- I need to know the name and date of birth of the patient. If you're dropping off a prescription for someone else, your birth date isn't going to help. That's where we start, and we kinda need it to go forward.

- I need the insurance information. It's like when you go to a restaurant and want to pay with a credit card. You can't expect the waiter to be able to "look up" your credit card info. You have to provide this information. Sorry.

- I need to know the patient's medication allergies BEFORE we start filling the prescription. At the pick up window is NOT the time to mention you're allergic to penicillin when we've just spent time filling that medication.

- If you're using insurance and want them to pay for most of it, it has to be on your formulary. I can't make it appear there and you saying "But my doctor prescribed it" doesn't change anything if the insurance doesn't want to cover it.

- You need to be out (or almost out) of your controlled substance prescription if this fill is for the same medication. 
You can't expect us to fill a new prescription for a narcotic when you should still have a ten day supply at home. It doesn't matter if it is more convenient for you or your physician said to take more. It's just the way it is.

- I need time to fill your prescription. Showing up within minutes after leaving the doctor's office and expecting it to be ready to pick up isn't logical or polite, is it? As much as I wish that medication would pop out of the fax machine when the doctor faxes over a prescription, we're just not there yet with technology.

- You have to pay for your part once it is filled. If you have a co-pay, that payment is expected when you pick up your medication. I can't make that part go away. It's kinda like the same thing as the restaurant example above. You wouldn't go out to eat and expect the restaurant to not want you to pay, right?